Matcha Tea

Matcha is a food, and most adults can enjoy it happily. These questions are mostly about caffeine, and about the fact that you swallow the leaf rather than brewing it.

A good fit if

• You're an adult who handles caffeine well and wants it in a slower, food-style drink
• You'd rather have the whole leaf than brew it and throw it away
• You want green tea as a food rather than a concentrated extract tablet with medicine-label conditions
• You'll actually whisk it, because the qualities of a good grade only come through when you drink it plain
• You're happy to count matcha in your daily caffeine along with coffee and tea

Check with us first if

• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. Caffeine is limited in pregnancy, and Australian medicines with more than 10 mg of caffeine must say 'Caffeine intake more than 200 mg per day is not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding'. A 2 g serve of matcha is a meaningful part of that.
• You're sensitive to caffeine, anxious, or sleeping poorly. FSANZ links about 240 mg a day in adults to increased anxiety, and matcha is easy to under-count because it doesn't taste like coffee.
• You take any prescription medicine that's processed by your liver. Australian green tea medicines must say 'Caffeine interacts with enzyme CYP1A2 in the liver. Consult your health professional before taking with other medicines'.
• You have low iron or iron deficiency, or take an iron supplement. Tea reduces how much iron you absorb from plant foods and supplements, so timing matters. Our green tea page has the figures.
• A child or teenager wants it. FSANZ names 120 mg of caffeine a day as a concern level for 9 to 13 year olds, and Australian medicines with more than 10 mg of caffeine must be labelled 'Adults only'.
• You have liver disease, or have reacted to a green tea product before. The liver concern with concentrated extracts isn't the same exposure as a food, but it is the same plant.
• You're buying unbranded or bulk powder and don't know where it's from. You swallow the whole leaf, so any contaminants aren't left behind in the pot.
• If you take prescription medicine, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.

• Ceremonial grade (first harvest, youngest shaded leaf). Best known for: Drinking straight with water; the sweetest, least bitter grade. Absorption: Richest in amino acids and caffeine and lowest in catechins. Measured caffeine was 472.53 mg/100 g in the top grade against 260.28 mg/100 g in food grade. Typical use: 1-2 g whisked into 60-80 mL of water just off the boil. Lost in a milkshake, because milk and sugar cover exactly what makes this grade special.
• Premium or daily-drinking grade. Best known for: The middle of the range: good enough to drink plain, and made for everyday use. Absorption: Sits between the two ends for both amino acids and catechins. Typical use: The practical choice for a daily bowl or a latte where you still want the tea to taste like tea.
• Culinary or food grade (later harvest, older leaf). Best known for: Baking, smoothies and lattes, where fat and sugar cover the bitterness. Absorption: Highest in catechins and polyphenols, lowest in caffeine and amino acids. The opposite end of the same scale. Typical use: Cooking and blending. More bitter drunk plain, and no less green in a cake.
• Matcha latte and blended powders. Best known for: Convenience. Matcha pre-mixed with milk powder, sugar, sweetener or other actives. Absorption: The matcha is diluted by everything else in the tin, and the percentage often isn't stated. Typical use: Check the order of the ingredient list. If sugar or milk solids come first, the amount of matcha per scoop is small.
• Matcha in tea bags and blended teas. Best known for: An easy way to get the flavour. Absorption: You brew it and throw the bag away, so most of the powdered leaf never leaves the bag and the whole-leaf advantage is lost. Typical use: A green tea with some matcha in it, which is a different product from a bowl of whisked matcha.
• Matcha capsules and green tea extract tablets. Best known for: A supplement format rather than a drink. Absorption: A concentrated extract is a different exposure again, and in Australia it's regulated as a medicine with its own label conditions. Typical use: If you want a concentrated catechin dose rather than a drink, see the green tea extract page instead.

Reference values. None. Matcha is a food, not an essential nutrient, so the NHMRC doesn't set a recommended intake for it, for catechins or for theanine.

Typical supplemental range. Australian tins suggest half to one teaspoon, roughly 1 to 2 g, whisked into 60 to 100 mL of water at around 70 to 80 degrees, or into milk for a latte. Based on published figures, a 2 g serve has about 73 mg of caffeine, somewhere between a cup of tea and a cup of instant coffee.

Upper level. There's no NHMRC upper limit for matcha or catechins. The practical limit is caffeine. FSANZ says there's no health-based guidance value, such as an Acceptable Daily Intake, for caffeine, and links increased anxiety to about 240 mg a day in adults and 120 mg a day in children aged 9 to 13. That's roughly three 2 g serves of matcha for adults and one and a half for children, before counting any coffee, cola or tea.

Worth knowing. Fluoride is the other number worth knowing, because you swallow the leaf. One review estimates up to 4 mg of fluoride per litre of prepared matcha, compared with a European adequate intake of 3.5 mg a day for a 70 kg adult, and notes that one or two serves a day stays within that range. Making it the traditional way, below boiling, extracts less. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Matcha powder itself: 1-2 g per serve; a 30 g tin is roughly 15 to 30 bowls and a 100 g tin 50 to 100
• Gyokuro and kabusecha: the other shaded Japanese green teas: shaded like matcha and high in theanine, but brewed and the leaf discarded
• Sencha and ordinary brewed green tea: the same plant, unshaded and infused; a lighter serve of everything matcha carries
• Matcha-flavoured foods: ice cream, biscuits, chocolate, latte sachets: usually culinary grade at a low percentage; treat the sugar as the main ingredient
• Coffee, cola, energy drinks and chocolate: not matcha, but they share its caffeine budget: count them together across the day

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• You're pregnant or breastfeeding. Caffeine should be limited; the Australian medicine label statement is 'Caffeine intake more than 200 mg per day is not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding'.
• Children and teenagers. FSANZ names 120 mg of caffeine a day as a level of concern for ages 9 to 13; Australian medicines providing more than 10 mg of caffeine must say 'Adults only'.
• You're sensitive to caffeine, or have anxiety, palpitations, reflux or trouble sleeping. A 2 g serve has about 73 mg of caffeine.
• You've been told to avoid caffeine completely. Don't take it.
• You take medicines processed by the liver enzyme CYP1A2. The Australian label statement says to check with a health professional before combining them.
• You're low in iron or take iron supplements. Tea reduces absorption of iron from plant foods, so keep matcha away from iron-rich meals and supplements.
• You have liver disease or have reacted to a green tea product before. Australian Camellia sinensis medicines taken by mouth carry a liver warning; if you notice yellowing skin or eyes, dark urine, unusual tiredness, nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pain or itching, stop and see a doctor.
• You don't know where the powder comes from. You swallow the whole leaf, so lead, cadmium and fluoride aren't left behind as they would be in a brewed tea.
• You're watching your fluoride intake. Up to 4 mg per litre of prepared matcha has been estimated, against a 3.5 mg daily adequate intake for a 70 kg adult.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.